2012-2013 Staff Handbook
Vision: Develop and empower global thinkers that are productive leaders and contribute to society.
Mission Statement: At Haw River Elementary School, we plant seeds of excellence, cultivate strong minds, build character, and celebrate diversity through collaborative partnerships with the students, parents, and community. We foster a supportive student-centered learning environment where everyone is accountable and excellence is expected.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
2
Staff List
Time
Staff Appearance
Classroom Appearance
Lesson Plans
Sick Leave
Phones
Duty Roster
Homework Policy
Specials Schedule
License Renewal
Employee Assistance Counseling
Committees
Duties
Discipline
Bullying Policy
Weekly Progress Notes
Newsletters
Field Trips
Student Assistance Team
EC Modifications
ESL
Cumulative Folders
Student Injuries
Worker’s Compensation
Medications
Lice Policy
Child Abuse/Neglect
Class Parties
Microwaves/Refrigerators
Copying
Laminating
Mailboxes
Recess
Teacher Assistants
Visitors
Lunch Procedures/ Schedule
Drug, Alcohol, Tobacco Free
Inclement Weather
Balloons and Flowers
Drills (Fire, Lockdown, Tornado)
Building Maintenance
Internet
Videos
Bulletin Boards
Funds
Grievance Procedures
Copyright
Important Dates
Forms
Internet, Email, and Social Media
2
2
2
2
Time
All staff should report by 7:15am and leave at 3:15pm. All staff is required to sign in each morning on TimeKeeper, pick up mail, and be in classrooms ready for students to enter at 7:20am. Teachers will also be required to stay daily until all professional obligations are complete.
Tuesdays will be a designated school meeting time, so please do not plan doctor or dentist appointments on those days. Faculty meetings will occur on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Please plan to be in these meetings until 4:30 p.m.
All staff must sign out at the end of the day as well. Teacher assistants may not go over 40 hours a week, so please monitor your time accordingly.
Unless there is an emergency or staff development, approved by one of the administrators, all staff must remain on campus during the entire school day including early release days. Faculty who must leave campus during the school day must: 1.Secure permission from an administrator, 2. Sign out on the sheet outside of Mrs. Wroblewski’s office, 3. Sign back in upon returning to campus.
On workdays, with no students, the staff hours for the building are 8am-4pm with one hour for lunch. Children of staff members should not be in the school building during workdays. Certified staff may not leave campus for lunch on early release days.
Staff Appearance
We are the only role model that some of our students have for appropriate dress. All staff members must be professionally dressed at all times. Many of these rules are student rules as well and so we need to exemplify appropriate dress.
Midriffs, cleavage, and shoulders must be covered (no tank, low-cut or crop tops).
Clothing should not be too tight.
All shirts should be tucked in if they fall to the bottom of the zipper.
All dress shorts, skirts, skorts, dresses and splits that touch the top of the knee are allowed.
No sweatpants, cut-off shorts, or exercise pants.
Due to safety issues flip-flops are not permitted.
All writing or designs on clothing must be appropriate for a school setting.
Sunglasses may be worn during outdoor supervision.
Classroom Appearance
Please keep the classrooms in a condition that is inviting and conducive to learning. Our rooms should match our passion for our students’ education.
Before leaving your classroom at the end of the workday please be sure that:
Instructional materials are organized for the next school day.
Plans are complete and on your desk.
The room is neat and teacher / TA areas are clutter-free.
Floors and countertops are clean and clutter-free.
The agenda for the next day is written on the board.
All windows, window blinds, and outside doors are closed and/or locked.
Lights, fans, and computer are off.
All technology should be shut down daily.
Lights should be left off when not in the room throughout the day.
These are good practices for safety, energy conservation, and in case you are unintentionally absent the next day.
Lesson Plans
Lesson plans must be placed on the teacher desk and open so that during observations and walkthroughs the plans can be reviewed. Occasionally a few of you will be asked to hand in a copy of your lesson plans at the end of the week. This process will be used as a way of providing more detailed feedback in planning.
Emergency Lesson Plans
Each teacher is responsible for providing five days of emergency lesson plans. Your plans should have attendance rosters, daily information such as lunch and recess, and any other information that is vital to a successful school day in your absence.
Leave
Sick Leave
If you are out sick more than three consecutive days a doctor’s note will need to be provided to an administrator each time.
Parental Involvement Leave
As specified in state statutes, employees of the Alamance-Burlington School System will be provided the opportunity to participate in their own children’s school activities for a period not to exceed four (4) hours annually. Prior approval by the principal or immediate supervisor is required. This benefit may not be carried forward to the next school year and is nontransferable.
Personal Leave
All personal leave taken must be pre-approved by an administrator.
Classified staff: All comp. time earned must be pre-approved by an administrator.
Use of AESOP System to record all absences
All faculty and staff are required to record all absences for any reason--including sick leave, annual leave, personal leave, and staff development--into the AESOP system via phone or computer. All absences should be recorded as far in advance as possible and administrators should be notified. On days when you must take leave at the last minute, faculty should record absences on AESOP and notify the front office AND one or both administrators. As a courtesy, teacher assistants should notify classroom teachers directly.
Any questions about using the AESOP system can be directed to Ms. Rushin.
Cellular and Classroom Phones
Staff cellular phones may only be placed in vibrate or silent mode during working hours. Cellular phones are to remain concealed during student instruction, active student supervision, or staff development unless there is an immediate professional emergency. Employees may use their cellular phones for personal calls during scheduled breaks or with administrative approval.
Classroom phones may only be used for professional calls during the school day. Long distance calls should be made with the assistance of a secretary and logged properly. Personal calls are allowed if made during planning periods and kept to 5 minutes in duration.
If you have a social networking page (including Facebook), you should refrain from accessing it while at school, either on your personal phone or school computer.
Phone Messages
All phone messages will be placed in mailboxes unless the caller identifies it as an emergency situation. If an emergency or important call is expected, notify the office in writing in advance so they respond accordingly.
Student Phone Usage
Students are not to use the phone unless it is an emergency and a staff member is with the student when the call is made. Homework papers, projects, notes and items forgotten at home do not constitute an emergency situation. If you do decide to send students to the office to call home, they must have an initialed note from you giving permission for them to use the phone.
Homework Policy
Students in K-1 should have no more than 15-20 minutes of homework per day. The students in grades 2-3 should have no more than 20-35 minutes per day. Students in grades 4 and 5 should have no more than 60 minutes, special projects excluded. Please be considerate regarding this. Our 30-minute home reading initiative does not apply to the homework assigned by the teacher. Homework is for reinforcement of a skill that has been taught in school. It is not to be used as “busy work”.
License Renewal
To maintain valid credentials, a licensed employee must engage in an ongoing program of professional development. It is the responsibility of the employee to ensure that his/her license is current.
Committees
2
All licensed personnel will serve on at least one committee.
All faculty and staff are required to serve on one other committee scheduled to meet at least once quarterly
2
Duties
All staff members can be expected to perform non-instructional duties by helping with morning and afternoon buses, morning and afternoon car duty, or hallway supervision. Ms. Wroblewski will hand out schedules for duty and both administrators will both actively monitor to ensure that everyone is doing their part.
Teachers need to be in the hallways at their doors greeting students and monitoring hallway behavior.
Discipline
A fair and consistent approach to helping students modify their behavior, coupled with real consequences, needs to be practiced by all staff members. It is important to recognize that all staff members are responsible for the behavior of all students.
The PBIS committee will provided guidance to faculty, staff and administrators about classroom expectations, school-wide expectations, and when to make an office referral. Use the office referral form that is on the form shelf in the front office.
Harassment/Bullying
It is the priority of the Alamance-Burlington School System to provide every student and employee in the school system with a safe and orderly learning and working environment. To this end, the Board specifically prohibits bullying and harassing behavior as defined below. If a staff member witnesses bullying or harassment in any form, please notify an administrator immediately.
Please refer to ABSS School Board Policies 5125, 4220, and 5130 for more detailed information regarding this.
This is the website: http://meetings.abss.k12.nc.us:8888/mediawiki/index.php/Board_Policies_-_Table_of_Contents
Weekly Progress/ Discipline Notes
Every classroom teacher should plan to send home a weekly progress/discipline note and any other important information. We need to have a culture of communication with parents and setting up a weekly communication tool that is consistent in the school is important. Use the student agenda and take-home folders to communicate with your parents daily.
Grade levels are also required to send a monthly newsletter to inform parents about what is being covered in class, dates coming up, how parents can help, and other information that is important. This newsletter should go out the last Thursday of the month for the following month. Do not wait until the last minute for translations of the newsletter into Spanish. A copy of all monthly newsletters should be sent to the assistant principal for review prior to sending home to parents at least 24 hours in advance.
If your grade level would like to send home a newsletter more frequently please feel free to do so, the monthly newsletter is merely a minimum. If specials teachers or other staff have information for the newsletter please submit it to the grade level chair one week in advance to ensure it is included and translated.
Websites:
All certified staff must have a webpage, and they should be updated monthly at a minimum.
Remember: Parents love to hear and see positive notes. They appreciate being kept informed of their child’s progress.
Field Trips
Procedures:
All field trips must have an academic focus and be directly linked to curriculum objectives. Requests for field trips must be submitted, using the REQUEST FOR FIELD TRIP FORM in the back of this handbook, to the assistant principal at least four weeks in advance for all field trips. All field trips planned for the entire school year must be submitted and scheduled by November 1st. No overnight trips are allowed and all trips must be within 150 miles of our school. All out-of-county trips must be approved 90 days in advance by the ABSS Board of Education.
A district—approved field trip form must be submitted with the trip request. The assistant principal will review and help price the trip and provide the information directly to the grade level team for review and action. All contracts involved must be approved by the principal and assistant principal at the time of the request.
Students in Grades 3-5 will not be able to go on field trips after the second intercession that begins on March 19th. Students in Grades K-2 may be scheduled for field trips through May 31; however, field trips scheduled on EOG testing days will not be approved.
Planning and Budgeting:
The Field Trip Request Form asks for exact pricing and the grade level’s plan for fundraising. More expensive trips will involve more planning and oversight and regular checking in with administrators to ensure that the plan is being followed and that money is coming in. If sufficient funds are not raised within 2-5 days of a planned field trip, administrators may have to cancel the field trip since there is no budget available to cover shortfalls. Think about planning early so that payment plans can be developed to ensure sufficient funds are raised to cover all trip costs including funding for students who are unable to pay.
When planning field trips, please consider the cost. The cost of a field trip should not be a burden or hardship on families.
Please notify Ms. Rushin well in advance of all checks that will be needed to avoid any last minute complications.
Notifying the Cafeteria:
You must notify the cafeteria two weeks before every field trip about lunch and breakfast needs or changes that will be required.
Permission Forms:
Permission forms must be sent out at least 10 days in advance of all field trips using the field trip form. The assistant principal will fill out and copy permission forms for you to send out for all trips. Please note that refunds of student payments will not be given within 5 working days of field trips, and this information is communicated directly to families on the permission forms. All refund requests, regardless of timing, must be submitted directly to administrators for approval before refund requests are granted.
Connect Ed Communication Requirements:
For every field trip, a Connect Ed message must be sent to families notifying them of the field trip around the time the permission form is sent out. A second message must be sent within 2-3 days of the trip with all final reminders. For expensive trips, it is recommended that you send regular Connect Ed messages home to keep families apprised of trip plans and funding status.